Stephan: The world sees what 40% of Americans apparently cannot, and that is that Trump and the Republicans are fascists. Here are the facts.
“Only very few governing parties in democracies in this millennium (15%) were considered more illiberal than the Republican Party in the U.S.”
The U.S. Republican Party has been moving in an increasingly regressive and autocratic direction for over a decade and now more closely resembles far-right ruling parties in Turkey, Hungary, and India than typical center-right parties in Western European democracies, a Swedish study published Monday has found.
“Only very few governing parties in democracies in this millennium (15%) were considered more illiberal than the Republican Party in the U.S.” —V-Dem
In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the Varities of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at the University of Gothenburg found that since 2004 the Republican Party has “retreated from upholding democratic norms” and is shifting in an increasingly authoritarian direction, especially since the ascension of President Donald Trump.
The study found that the GOP is “now more similar to autocratic ruling parties such as the Turkish AKP and Fidesz in Hungary than to typical center-right governing parties in democracies such as the Conservatives in the U.K. or CDU in Germany.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=commondreams&creatorUserId=14296273&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1320745059613057024&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F10%2F26%2Finternational-study-finds-us-republican-party-heading-towards-becoming-one-words&siteScreenName=commondreams&siteUserId=14296273&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
Nicole Chavez, Ryan Young and Angela Barajas,, - Nicole Chavez, Ryan Young and Angela Barajas,
Stephan: Black militias. I am not surprised to see this sort of thing emerge in the United States, but that doesn't make it any less disturbing. This country is in desperate need of healing through the creation of social fairness in a hundred ways. The alternative is an eruption of civic violence we have not seen in our lifetimes.
LOUISVILLE, KY – SEPTEMBER 05: NFAC members kneel in the street during a march near Churchill Downs on September 5, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. The NFAC provided protection as people marched to the Kentucky Derby to protest the event and call for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro police officers during a no-knock raid at her apartment on March 13, 2020. Credit: by Brandon Bell/Getty
When two loud bangs rang out on the streets of Lafayette, Louisiana, no one knew where the gunshots came from as protesters gathered to demand justice for another Black man killed by police.Among the crowd was a group of armed Black men and women who call themselves the “Not F**king Around Coalition” or NFAC. The group did not run toward the gunshots or break formation. Instead, they kneeled on the ground amid the confusion, and then walked away after their leader shouted, “fall back! fall back!”The all-Black, Atlanta-based group has grown in size out of frustration during a summer of protests […]
Stephan: If Biden wins I think it will take him a year, maybe two, depending on whether the Senate flips, to clean up the mess that Trump will leave. I believe that history is going to condemn Trump as the worst president in American history.
The Trump administration has weakened fuel-efficiency requirements for the nation’s cars and trucks. Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty
As the days tick down to next month’s presidential election, debate rages over the U.S. government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic with critics of President Donald Trump calling for his ouster due to his failure to protect the American public.
And yet as mass media runs daily tallies of COVID-related cases and deaths, a more sinister threat to public health looms as the Trump administration rolls back regulations that govern the quality of our air, land and water. And though these actions are garnering little public outcry now, they pose grave danger to our children and their children for decades to come. It’s a simple truth — a poisoned environment means poisoned people.
In recent months the Trump administration has stripped protections from wetlands in ways that allow for the dumping of pesticides and other pollutants directly into millions of miles of streams and other waterways; relaxed rules on power plants designed to curb air emissions containing brain-damaging […]
Stephan: Rex Wyler, a friend of some years now, is one of the co-founders of Greenpeace, and he has been studying the interconnection and interdependence of the systems of earth's matrix of life for a long time. This thoughtful essay lays out some of his thinking. It is s shame so few of our politicians seem to be capable of such insights.
Stephan: Over the last several days several Republican readers -- yes I have Republican readers -- who saw my piece on the Inferiority of Republican governance wrote to challenge me to prove my assertions at the individual level. I thought it was interesting that they did not dispute the earlier piece but just asked for more granular proof. Well, I am happy to provide it, so today's edition provides that proof. I could have added an additional 20 stories or more, but these four represent the reality.
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